1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a backlight assembly and a liquid crystal display (LCD) apparatus having the backlight assembly. More particularly, the present invention relates to a backlight assembly with improved light guiding plate and associated components, and an LCD apparatus having the backlight assembly with improvements on image display quality.
2. Description of the Related Art
An LCD apparatus displays images using liquid crystal. LCDs offer various advantages over alternative display apparatuses (e.g., cathode ray tubes) in that they are generally thinner and require low driving voltage, low power consumption, etc., making them ideal for use in a variety of applications.
A typical LCD apparatus includes an LCD panel and a backlight assembly. The LCD panel, in turn, may include a thin film transistor (TFT) substrate, a color filter substrate, and the liquid crystal. The color filter substrate corresponds to the TFT substrate. The liquid crystal is disposed between the TFT substrate and the color filter substrate. When an electrical field is applied to the liquid crystals, its molecular arrangement becomes varied, resulting in a change in light transmittance corresponding to the new arrangement. LCDs are considered to be non-emissive in that they emit no light of their own. Accordingly, a backlight is provided to the LCD, which supplies light to the LCD panel.
A typical backlight assembly includes a lamp and a light guiding plate. The lamp generates light, which is then guided into the LCD panel by the light guiding plate. The light guiding plate may include a prism pattern on its lower surface, which is presented at a slight pitch. The prism pattern enables the LCD apparatus to provide greater luminance. However, utilization of the prism pattern also causes deterioration in the display quality of the LCD. This is because the prism pattern causes the light to become concentrated at the sides of the light guiding plate, resulting in the formation of a bright line or a shadow at that location, thereby diminishing the display qualities of the LCD. What is needed, therefore, is an LCD apparatus and backlight assembly that eliminates or reduces the aforementioned deficiencies.